The Samsung Conquer 4G sets itself apart by being one of the cheaper 4G-equipped phones out there. Despite the price, it's quite the capable device, striking a good balance of hardware and features to go with the high-speed broadband connectivity.
Physically, it's a good-looking mid-sized phone that should fit perfectly fine in your pants pocket. While it’s nowhere near premium in appearance, the textured back does give it a nice feel when cupped in hand. To bring down the price, the display is one of the areas that the phone has made compromises for. While the 3.5-inch panel is big enough for most uses, the resolution is a low 320 x 480 pixels. It's serviceable, especially with otherwise ample brightness and clarity.
As a phone, the Samsung Conquer 4G made for good calls, with clear audio and natural-sounding voices on both ends. Speakerphone phone isn't very good, though, with voices sounding hollow and even cutting out on occasion. Battery is rated at 5.25 hours of talk time.
Samsung ditched TouchWiz for this device, choosing to go with a near-stock Android 2.3 experience, instead. A 1Ghz Snapdragon chip provides capable processing muscle, with apps launching quickly and navigation being particularly responsive.
The Conquer 4G has all the features you expect from an Android smartphone: voice options, basic and advanced messaging, the full suite of wireless connectivity and the usual load of bundled apps. The big draw, of course, is the compatibility with Sprint's WiMax network, which should have you streaming YouTube videos with little to no buffering. Of course, with the low-res display, video quality isn't all that great anyway -- at least, the downloads go fast. Plus, you can share it with other devices over WiFi.
Media playback is decidedly average, so you might want to consider getting a better media player off the Market to spice it up a little bit. It comes with two cameras: a 1.3 megapixel webcam for video chat and a 3.2 megapixel module in the rear. The latter makes for decent outdoor photos (indoor shots look very dull, though).
Available for $99.99 on a two year agreement with Sprint, the Samsung Conquer 4G makes for a unique value proposition. While it does make some compromises (low-res camera and display), it's still a well-equipped smartphone with solid performance.
